Lillian Frakerthe best bass fiddle player in the northeast who doesn’t slap!
Lillian grew up in Westchester County NY in a family of European culture surrounded by classical music. Her home was one of those with a Steinway piano. Lillian eventually pursued her college education in Music History at Lake Forest College in Illinois, and Columbia University in New York City. To this day Lillian has strong opinions on classical music, and much prefers 17th century German and French choral music, along with other pre-1800 forms of the classics, to later classical music. (Don’t even MENTION Tchaikovsky!) Lillian still plays a little Bach or Mozart on the piano when her out-of-practice fingers feel up to it. Now that, my friends is OLD TIME MUSIC!
As far as singing, Lillian had always loved to sing informally. She and her sister would sing by the hour on car trips, sister on melody and Lillian finding harmonies, mostly low harmony.
After college Lillian and Robert Fraker were married, started a family and moved to the hill towns of Massachusetts to get out in the country. (The hill towns of Massachusetts, there’s another entire essay in that topic, right there, for sure!) Robert is one of those "deep catalog" guys of many kinds of "roots music", especially acoustic blues, Bob Dylan, old time string band music and bluegrass.
In their new home in the Massachusetts hills, they met musical neighbors -- teenaged Dave Shaw, and his uncle Don who played country music and built fiddles. Dave and his uncles played straight country music (like Hank Williams and 1950s country) and old time fiddle tunes and square dance music locally. Sometimes Robert Fraker would join in a little bit, and he and Lillian got to know young Dave. After Dave came home from the service, he and his uncle would come to the Frakers to pick and sing together for fun. Up to now, Lillian’s favorite folk music or country music, had been Carter Family songs, but jamming with Dave led her to his personal favorite material, 1950s bluegrass and country. (To this day, Lillian feels that Sara Carter’s voice is probably the best ever in country music.) They used to spend hours working on singing trios in the bluegrass arrangements, just for fun. This also pulled Robert’s playing more toward bluegrass from old time string band music. Dave and Uncle Don would bring along their bass fiddle and challenge Lillian to play it on the spot. Eventually she asked them to just leave it there so she could work on it in peace and quiet, and she was able to find some of the basic "Root-Five" notes and patterns. (Root-Five is bass fiddle player lingo; non-musical types might call it the "boom-boom" pattern. If you’re in the key of G it means alternate playing the G and D strings back and forth, in time with the music. G is the "root", D is the "Five" or "V".)
By about 1986 this little house jam tradition became The Bear Bridge Band with Lillian playing "boom boom" bass fiddle, Robert playing mandolin, Dave on banjo, Uncle Don on fiddle and a guitar playing friend. Inspired by Dave Shaw’s catalog of tapes of old forgotten bluegrass and country songs, The Bear Bridge Band became one of the unusual local bluegrass outfits in that they didn’t play the "warhorse" numbers, they played "gems". They’d rearrange country songs into bluegrass style, and Robert even started writing original material. Lillian learned to sing all the harmony "parts", such as tenor, high baritone and high lead.
Lots of folks ask about Lillian’s great old Kay bass fiddle, which is probably the loudest acoustic bass fiddle in the northeast, it’s really powerful, and she plays it hard to boot. She and Robert found that bass at a side-street tag sale in Pittsfield Mass. back in the 1980s. It has only ever needed minor work done on it, it’s a real champ!
As for bass fiddle influences, Lillian figures they must be subliminal. She has no particular one favorite influence that she tries to play "like". She feels she just started adding more notes, patterns and rhythms, bit by bit. She keeps the rhythm "up", plays with real power that will boost the saggiest bunch of pickers, and likes to play notes, without sounding "notey". She "walks" the bass (boogie woogie style) when it’s called for but doesn’t play a "running" bass style of constant scales. Given advance warning and time to think, she plays a mighty mean bass break, but she’s not one of those bass players always searching for the chance to put one in. Lillian has particular favorites of a couple of today’s leading bluegrass bass fiddle players, but she doesn’t attempt to play "like" them. She appreciates that they play with power, good intonation and time, and "nice notes" that are interesting to listen to.
The Bear Bridge Band played all over New York and New England throughout the 1990s settling into a basic 4 piece group. They released several very well-reviewed recordings. While the band has slowed down some in the last few years, they still turn out to play select gigs, benefits, and "please please please!" performances for old friends running festival and concerts.
Dick Bowden has been jamming with the Frakers and Dave Shaw for years at festivals. As he moved on from his Case Brothers period, and particularly since moving away from Maine and missing HIS #1 bass player (the other best bass player in the northeast), his sister Bobbi, and also, being one of those "deep catalog" guys, Dick was getting most of his "new tune arrangements" by working with Lillian, Robert and Dave. To this day they still have some numbers they’ve arranged that are "their own", like "The Dying Drunkard’s Plea", "Unloved and Unclaimed", "The Drunkard’s Curse", "I Want to Go With You" and other "jam-toppers". This is a "no warhorses" group of pickers!
Robert is a great support to The Old Time Bluegrass Singers, being a good and thoughtful critic of material and performance. He also is our rehearsal "extra hand", whatever might be needed or missing. Finally, he VERY graciously has been playing some old country style "slap" rhythm guitar with the group on the more country-flavored numbers like Johnny & Jack’s "No One Dear But You".
Lillian is The Old Time Bluegrass Singers’ musical conscience, and really gets after Dick and Herb to do the best that can be done, to hit the notes square, together, and holding ‘em right up there. As Bill Monroe would say "you got to get the bluegrass music right up there where the people want to see it!" Although, Lillian is prone to arguing, and NEVER backing down, on whether you can call for a D-sharp when you’re in the Key of B-flat. You HAVE TO call it E-flat. But that’s neither here nor there. What counts is that Dick, Herb and Lillian (and Terry and Dave K.) found in each other continuation of all their long histories of liking and seeking out little heard music and "making" it bluegrass, just for the dang fun of it! And thankfully, people have enjoyed listening.
And yes, Lillian plays STEEL STRINGS, it’s part of her power and clarity. And perhaps why she doesn’t care to slap. OUCH!
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